Hidden in Plain Sight
by ShotgunStudios
Summary: Rowan Crimson has a legacy that she never knew about. Unbeknownst to her, she will have to join up with her cousins, Amber & Ruby, her best friend Aella, and some of the most weird, horrifying and strange creatures to have ever walked the earth. But as she gets dragged in, will they all be able to save the world from a much more terrifying being?
1. Earth and Sky

Rowan Crimson couldn't believe how ridiculous she looked with bloody tissues up her right nostril.

Normally she's pretty recognizable with her short, curly red hair and hazel eyes. That combined with the flurry of freckles on her face made her look like a dryad. Yet that's not even the most interesting part of her regular appearance.

Hidden among the explosion of her pale freckles were, not one, but two natural beauty spots that were only about an inch apart on her right cheek. Well, if anyone could call them beauty spots. They looked like small, faint black dots more than anything. She only nicknamed them that since it sounded better than anything else her mind could come up with.

Of course, the constant stream of blood contained by tissues stuffed inside her nose made it a lot harder to take herself seriously. She soon toke out the red-soaked tissues and stuffed in another batch as soon as she saw a bit more trickle down her pale skin. This was the first nosebleed she'd ever had. But that wasn't what was peculiar about it. What was strange was how it just started out of nowhere without a sensible cause.

It toke a bit of time but the blood eventually stopped. She threw away all the bloody tissues into the pale white trash can she kept in the bathroom. She toke the time to push her brush through the mass of hair on her head. She had a job to go to, after all. She was only 19, she was out on her own in the small town of Lakewood.

While her parents lived in the same town and occasionally visited, they had sent her on her way about a year ago. She didn't mind, though. She certainly wasn't bitter towards them for it. It only meant they knew she could take care of herself and didn't view her as dependent on them.

She was a bird that left the nest and was now flying, hunting and most importantly _living_. That meant a lot to her considering she hated being locked up ever since she was a little kid.

She'd been claustrophobic for as long as she could remember. What was funny was that very little scared her outside of confinement. Not even spiders, heights or snakes caused her to be afraid. But she'd always try to find something that could cause her to shiver- to jump - to feel any terror. Horror novels or stories never did the trick. Scary movies once in a while managed the feat, but barely enough for them to make it out as an achievement.

She pushed the thoughts out of her mind just before they reached a sensitive subject- _why _she hated small spaces.

She slipped on her red zip-up hoodie over her lime green uniform blouse, her dark green shorts that went down to her knees, mint green stockings and her dark red sneakers. She'd always preferred wearing other the same color theme, or complimentary, such as red and green. She even put on her red baseball cap. Outside of that and necessary hygienic care, she'd never cared much for her looks. She'd simply never saw much of a need for it.

She walked out of the basic apartment complex after locking the door behind her and toke a leisurely stroll down the sidewalk. She once in a while rode a bike to work, but she always preferred walking by the forest. Like the name of the town suggests, there were plenty of lakes and bodies of water near the town, but there were even more tree-infested woods surrounding the place. She'd grown up near these forests, and loved them to death. She could always recall fond memories of playing among the trees, plants and the occasional wild animals when she was growing up.

She put in her ear buds and put some country music on her iPhone, humming the lyrics to herself until it upgraded into singing the entire way. She didn't care if anyone really caught her. It was a small town after all- everyone she knew would be used to it. But she wouldn't have really cared if anyone she didn't know saw her. She never cared for anyone's opinions on her before, so why should she start now?

* * *

It hadn't taken long for her to reach the flower shop. It wasn't busy very often, just on holidays like valentines day or the rare wedding, but she absolutely loved working there. She was just a florist, getting paid as much as the store could afford to, but she also got to grow and manage blooming flowers. Flowers, to her, were some of the most beautiful things earth ever made, so she was more than glad when she got the job a few months ago.

She opened the door, causing the bell to ring and alert Aella (or as she nicknamed herself back in 6th grade, '_Tempest_'. Rowan preferred to call her Ella though.) She was the floral clerk and one of her best friends. Her blonde hair, which had some light blue dye at the tip was put up into a tight bun. It almost made her look like her hair was the sun and it was taking up a majority of the sky. She wore the required uniform blouse with a sky blue shade, midnight blue skirt that could be compared to the night sky with its faint glitter, small cobalt blue socks and azure blue mary janes.

One could say Aella was the sky while Rowan was the earth. That, or Aella was blue and Rowan was red. Rowan always found those comparisons funny due to how her name meant "son of the red one" when not anglicized from Irish and was the name of a tree, which suited her well for the identity of both red and earth. Aella, on the other hand, was Greek for whirlwind, which suited her relatively well for the sky. The fact she wore so much blue constantly helped her identify as blue without the help of her name's meaning. The same went for Rowan's appearance, as it was commonly composed of the color red with the occasional green. Aella once commented on how it made Rowan look like she was impersonating a rose, but what did she know?

The tree she shared the name of stood for balance, healing, mystery, divination, and transformation in Celtic mythology while Aella was also the name of one of Hippolyte's Amazons in Greek myth. Their names both were related to myth and its tales, which helped their bond grow tighter before they had even meet.

They were inseparable growing up, and haven't grown apart in the slightest. Aella hadn't even had the same interest in plants she had, but still toke the job because Rowan wanted it so badly. Aella actually had always dreamed of being an airplane pilot. While her current position wouldn't help her with it, she still signed up for the job of floral clerk to work with her best friend. That's how loyal they were to each other- as thick as thieves, those two are.

"Hey, Ella. How are ya?" Rowan asked her as she paused the music on her phone within her hoodie pocket, then taking out her earbuds and putting them inside.

"Peachy. What about you Rowa?" the fellow 19-year old replied holding a recently-bought peach and a smirk on her face at the pun. Meanwhile Rowan held back a laugh. She'd just left it on the counter beside a handmade tag that read '_free peach!_'. Ella would be making puns since the day she went into heaven, and she knew it.

"Decently enough. A nosebleed and slight case of nausea this morning, but you know that's not enough to keep me from this place."

"Whoa- are you _sure_ your ok? That sounds kinda serious."

"Yes, Ella. I'm perfectly fine."

"...Have you told your parents?"

"I might as well be talking to them _now_." Rowan cracked with a playful smirk on her face. "I mean it. I'm fine. Stop worrying so much."

"It's my job as your best friend to care and you know that." To which Rowan stuck her tongue out at Ella.

"So, did you hear what's going around on the news? y'know, about those kids going missing?" That opened topic ended up ruining the mood. At least for Rowan. It upset her when she heard that some people's children had just vanished without a trace. She could only imagine how their parents or their siblings must feel. Some of those kids she even _knew_ personally from her old babysitting job, like Keira.

"Yeah. What about it?" Rowan had asked Ella as she sat down at a table near the counter, put her baseball cap on the back of the chair and started preparing a few flowers out in the open. She preferred to do her job where people can see her and see what the next lines of flowers are going to be, how they'll be arranged, so on. It helped customers know if they wanted to buy them or not. Sometimes they even give her advice or their preferences when they see her. The growing and plant care she does in the back. She's able to open up the windows to let proper photosynthesis take place and have a bunch of water close by back there.

"They said something about them all having been near the woods when it happened..."

That struck a cord with Rowan. Hard. Hard enough to snap it in half hard. She'd played in those woods her entire life. The idea that someone was using those sacred grounds as a place to take children away from their parents was despicable- no, just... outright _wrong_ to her.

Ella seemed to recognize some of the shock and pain on Rowan's face, as she then said "It's... going to be ok, Rowa. Really. The police are doing all they can. We just gotta have faith."

"..Yeah." Rowan solemnly agreed, getting back to work as soon as she can. She just had to hope working would make her forget her problems.


	2. Man in the Pale Mask

She stopped herself when she walked back by the forest. What Aella told her just popped back into her head as soon as she saw the thick expanse of trees... trees that could be hiding all the missing children and their taker from the outside world.

For a split second, she thought she saw something that stood out and yet blended in among the brown and green colors of the forest in the soon-to-darken sky. It looked like a tall man in a suit... with some kind of white mask on? It wouldn't have been odd at all normally- that is, if it wasn't for the kids that were possibly kidnapped near that forest.

But when she blinked, whoever it was had vanished without a trace. It was like it hadn't even existed. No person could have just disappeared out of reality like that without leaving some remnant of their presence. Heck, she didn't even hear anything from that direction to signal them having moved. Going by that logic she was probably hallucinating... greatttt, '_as if she didn't have enough problems_'. At least that's what she would think if she _had_ any problems.

She shook her head in disbelief and began joking to herself about how paranoid she's becoming. She simply continued walking down the sidewalk until she reached her apartment complex. It was as if she didn't see a thing. Because that's what she thought happened.

* * *

The complex was pretty well off compared to how it could have been. Shelby, the manager, never asked for much rent, so it was a good place to stay until she could finally afford a house and furniture to fill the place up so it didn't feel empty. Well, everyone in town called it an apartment complex. Most tourists (few as there were) saw it more as a motel without the room service, sign and pool.

The parking spaces were right out front, with the doors to each apartment right out on the front of the building. However, Rowan's main mode of transportation, the 2-wheeled bicycle, simply rested in the only bicycle parking rack in the nearby area, which happened to be on the side of the asphalt pathway. Most of the rooms were to the left, since the reception counter for those who aren't from Lakewood is over in that area. Come to think of it, it literally was just a motel in sheep's clothing wasn't it?

Pushing the thoughts of the betrayal of the forest and '_apartment complex_' aside, she unlocked her door and pushed it open.

* * *

It was a relatively simple place with its beige walls and cream carpet, but it was her home. It still had all her belongings; her red Polaroid iEX29in its simple green case (which had cost her quite a bit of her own cash to afford and buy) for example. She had a collection of old DVDs she used to watch when she was growing up but never got rid of. She even had a box-designed television set in her bedroom.

Her afternoon had gone on the same; she made some leftover fried chicken and mashed potato's for dinner, watched a few movies and got prepared for the next day by putting her clothes out for tomorrow. Her life was regular and not at all strange. There was nothing off about her or her family... as far as she knew, of course. She lived in a regular town where bad things rarely happened... until recently. The only thing even relatively off about her was the fact she was 19 and still wore mickey mouse pajamas. (She just doesn't feel comfortable without something on when she slept and she felt that she could wear anything she wanted since she was on her own- where no one could judge her. If only she knew we your reading this.)

She'd soon approached the blinds in an attempt to close them. But she saw something out on the sidewalk, staring straight at her the window in her room.

And she could recognize it as the same man from before. She remembered him as soon as she saw that pale, featureless mask he wore over his face.

She shut the blinds as quick as possible, flicked the light switch so they couldn't see her through them and practically climbed into bed and hid under the mountain of blankets. They knew she was there. They knew where she _lived, _and she was sure as Percy Jackson being the son of Poseidon that she didn't know them. She didn't know anyone in town who even wore a suit that often, let alone wore a mask like that. Hell, she probably didn't even know who was that _tall_.

She simply shut her eyes in an attempt to shut out her fears. Maybe if she went to sleep, she could forget about all of this, and _whoever that was _outside would move on. For some reason she could never find a reason for, she always could forget about the day before as if it never happened, or in some instances, just a dream. That was an upside when it came to having a very precise routine she followed daily. Even things out of the ordinary (like now) could be forgotten as if it was all apart of her day-to-day schedule. She had to cling on to her faith that it would work now.

After calming down, she opened her eyes and lifted a few of the blankets from off of her. It was to dark to make out anything abnormal, like say... a stranger in her room. But she still didn't hear a single noise. Not even a breath. She closed them again and allowed herself to drift off to sleep at last.

* * *

_She was staring Kiera right in the face surrounded by nothing but tall trees that not even she could identify the type of. It had a cold, dreary atmosphere all around them, with intimidating trees blocking out the sky and any light it could produce from view. The darkness made it almost seem as if they were in nothing but some giant's shadow._

_But she could tell it was the girl she used to babysit was in front of her just as she could tell a metaphor apart from a simile. _

_There were quite a lot of 15-year-old girls with long, brown hair and brown eyes and pale skin in Lakewood. But Kiera always had that necklace she never toke off. It was a simple string with an onyx gemstone on the end instead of something common, like a ruby or diamond. She noticed it reflected pretty well in the moonlight. She just found herself... staring into it. It was like it was the most amazing thing in the world despite how much she used to see it._

_She couldn't hear the footsteps as something... or someone casually approached her. She hadn't notice it didn't show her own reflection in it until it was to late. She toke to long to realize that, instead of a 19-year-old it reflected the pale man with the mask and business suit. He reached his white-gloved hand out and placed it on her shoulder..._

* * *

She sat up quickly in a cold sweat, breathing a bit heavilly from panic. She looked around her room and exhaled a sigh of relief when she saw no one was there. She knew for a fact that Aella sprouted those ideas into her head, which caused her to dream that. She was going to have to tell her about it at some point.

The forest setting actually wasn't unusual for most of her dreams. She could actually recall quite a few that toke place among wild animals that talked and played with her. It was the lack of any light, joy and positivity that caught her off-guard.

She almost felt she was being spied on for a second... like something was in her room. She turned on the lamp at her bedside and looked around to see nothing out of the ordinary. She glanced over at her digital clock, which read 3 AM. She turned the light off and tried to return to her slumber. She had another 5 hours before she had to get up officially, and she was going to use it to get as much sleep as she needed.

After all, tomorrow was when her cousins were coming to visit.


	3. Family

"_~My roots are planted in the past and though my life is changing fast who I am is who I wanna be~"_ sung the alarm clock from the table at the side of her bed.

"~A_ single mom who works to hard, who loves her kids and never stops.. with gentle hands and the heart of a fighter... I'm a survivor_~" she sleepily sung along with the alarm clock, turning it off just as it was about to repeat itself.

It hadn't taken her long to climb out from all the blankets she was underneath. Rowan soon yawned and pushed herself up, her hair in such a tangled mess it could have been mistaken for a red rat's nest. Or worse; Anna's hair when she first woke up in _Frozen_. It may have been an exaggeration to say it toke her hours to brush it to its normal and all-natural curls, but it wouldn't be to say it hurt like a son of a gun.

She soon toke the clothes she had laid out the night before and put them on. They, like everything bit of clothing she owned, was casual. It was just a dark green tank top with some camouflage-designed jeans, silver and green agate earrings in the shape of roses, white socks with red stripes near the top and green tennis shoes. She'd wrapped the red hoodie around her waist and put the baseball hat on.

She'd always try to wear these two pieces. It didn't matter the what the weather was like outside to her. These were gifts from her grandfather. She was _always_ going to cherish them until the day she died, and cherishing them meant to use them.

She then got out a backpack and put a few simple things in there such as 5 Pokémon decks (one for each of her family coming over since Ruby enjoyed playing it sometimes,) a playmat, rule sheet, a few of her favorite books and movies... well, the ones that weren't horror-related, her work clothes for tomorrow, a pair of clean pajamas, her prized camera, a few binders with her own fan-made comics inside, etcetera.

She always packed that stuff when her cousins were visiting. It was almost a tradition for them. Well... they call it a visit, but it was a lot more like a sleepover that lasted for multiple days. Sometimes only 2 or 3, sometimes a week. It sort of depended on how important it was.

You see, their parents sometimes had to go off on business trips and would send them over to Lakewood. It only happened a few times a year. It wasn't a very rare and uncommon occurrence, (in fact Rowan became accustomed to it a long time ago,) she was still always excited when it did happen. She really liked her cousins and enjoyed their company.

She stepped out of her apartment with her bag on and locked the door behind her, almost ecstatic to see them all again. She knew her mom would make a giant batch of pancakes and toast, so she didn't even bother making herself anything for breakfast.

She practically jumped on to her bike when she got it out of the rack. Putting on her green helmet and kneepad ('_safety first_', as her mother always enforced,) she rode down the pathway. She simply ignored the feeling of being spied on when she passed the forest... That was, until she felt a faint headache.

She stopped dead in her tracks, looking over to the forest. It was no where close to any other ache she'd have in her mind, like it was trying to get her attention rather then hurt her. She turned away in a bit of pain when she started seeing faint static though. She high-tailed it out of there just before the pale man poked out a bit further from behind a tree, watching her as she rode off.

* * *

She rested the bicycle on the side of the cozy 2-story house. She just put the helmet and kneepads on the ground nearby. She knew no one would steal them. Until those kidnappings began, very little crime ever occurred. That, and who would want to steal a _bike _and _safety gear_?

She tipped her hat down so its shadows hid her facial features when she knocked on the door. She heard a bit of fighting to answer (likely Ruby and Amber, as her red Chevrolet HHR was already out in the driveway,) eventually leading to the 16-year-old opening it up.

Amber was only about an inch smaller than Rowan, making her 5'7. She looked so composed with her long, straight, orange hair made into a long braid she was currently keeping hung over her shoulder. She had a nice, rich brown color to her eyes that always reminded Rowan of a tree during autumn. She wore a shoulder less orangish red shirt that still managed to cover a lot of her. She also had brown shorts that went just above her kneecaps and dark brownish red ballet flats without any socks on.

Ruby on the other hand was 4 inches smaller then her sibling, which made sense considering how she was 7 years younger. She had a much more mischievous, playful and childish aura then her older sister. Her hair was a very warm and bright shade of red and went down to the middle of her back. Her eyes almost appeared magenta a lot of the time, but Rowan knew that was just a trick of the light. Her aqua blue sweatshirt drooped a bit off of her right shoulder and its left sleeve was pulled up to her elbow. Underneath was a salmon red shirt with long sleeves down to her wrists and a dark mahogany belt. She wore dark blue jeans with a few rips here and there. She also had a pair of riding boots on, hiding what kinds of socks she was wearing.

If anyone saw them separately without knowing the two no one would assume the two were sisters. Nor would anyone really assume Rowan was their cousin. They just behaved so differently and lived such contrasting lives. But there was at least one thing they had in common- the jewelry.

Amber had a golden necklace go down to her chest, with a spherical piece of (ironically enough) amber in the middle. Ruby on the other hand owned a golden bracelet she kept on her left wrist with a (also ironically) small ruby gemstone in the middle. They mentioned on their last visit that their mother and father had gotten them at some auction a long time ago and had given them for their birthdays.

Come to think of it, her own mom had given her that set of green agate earrings the same year. While she really did appreciate the gift, they just weren't her thing. It wasn't as if she ever went out to anywhere fancy or important. She was only wearing them now because she felt guilty and wanted to show she liked the present to her parents. However, her cousins always wore their pendant and band... they probably meant just as much to them as her hat and hoodie.

Rowan made a simple finger gun gesture and pointed it at Amber's forehead, then saying "You ready for some fun kids?" with a giant smirk on her face. Amber just crossed her arms and sighed with a gentle, motherly smile on her face while Ruby giggled a little at the joke. Rowan soon showed her giant, warm smile as she lifted her baseball cap, letting the other two move out of the way when she hung it on the coatrack.

"Hey Rowan! How are you?" asked Ruby, with a lot of excitement in her voice. The two always did get along pretty well, after all.

"A'Okay, now that you two are here!" Rowan exclaimed, kneeling down a little to do a fist bump, both doing that '_Ba la la la la la_' motion with their hands as they pulled back. Amber gently smiled a little, just like a mother would. Speaking of which...

"Oh Rowan, there you are! The pasta is almost ready." the 50 year old woman soon spoke, poking out from the kitchen with a baking sheet of biscuits in her hands (which, yes, had oven mitts on.) She was known to most as Laura or Mrs. Crimson, but she was only known as mom to Rowan.

She, like almost all of the Crimson family, had vibrant red hair, only it was in a low ponytail. She was wearing a sandstone orange, collared dress with honey-colored bow sandals. It was such a simple get-up, yet she looked so enchanting with that caramel-eyed gaze. It was no wonder she was able to sweep Rowan's father off his feet with her beauty. She really _did_ manage to look good in almost anything, even when she wasn't trying.

Her father, otherwise known as Nicholas, was just leaning on the kitchen entrance, giving off a very optimistic vibe as he always did. His eyes were the color of aquamarine's and his scruffy hair (+ beard) was the shade of syrup. He was wearing a simple blue t-shirt under a black sweater, with matching black jeans and loafers over blue socks. While he wasn't Rowan's real dad (..her birth father left soon after she was born..) he was probably the best one on the planet. Then again, she's biased. After all, he'd given her practically _everything_ she ever wanted growing up. Y'know, that wasn't possibly dangerous.

"Great! I came just in time then." Rowan said as she toke her bag off and set it down on the couch, opening it up to reveal the playmat, rule sheet and 2 of her decks. "Think we got enough time for one game?"

"Yess!" Ruby quickly exclaimed, grabbing out her _Cold Fire_ deck from the bag, which was adorned with a White Kyruem on the cover of the deck casing. Nicholas's _Laser Focus _deck was also in there, along with Amber's _Burning Winds_, Laura's _Resilient Life_ deck and Rowan's _Forest Shadow_. Each had a Necrozma, Talonflame, Xerneas and Decidueye respectively on the front.

Rowan couldn't help but smile when she saw everyone enjoying themselves. They were the best family on earth, and no one could change her mind.


	4. Intruder

Once everyone had finished their plates, they gathered around in the living room. Rowan would have added that her mother's food was exquisite as always if it wasn't for Ruby shouting "I call Rowan's room!" once everyone left the dining room.

"Aw c'mon, Its _my_ room Ruby. Don't you think I should stay in it?" The 9-year-old's response was sticking her tongue out at her.

"Well I'm perfectly fine with the guest room. Your always welcome to stay with me in there anyway." Amber commented, rubbing her thumbs on the amber gemstone in her pendant. Rowan sometimes recognized it as Amber's way of self soothing, and other times it was just a habit of hers to do when she was bored. It was pretty easy to tell which based off of the situation at hand though, so she could tell Amber was just trying to entertain herself while she sat on the couch.

"At least someone's considerate." Rowan then responded. Amber had always been the more thoughtful, inquisitive (and far more mature) one of the sisters. That could be argued by how she was the older one, but the point stood its ground. However it sometimes caused her to be nervous, indecisive and

Ruby just seemed to huff a bit before replying "Oh yeah? Then you can stay in that room and I'll stay with Amber." But while Amber was smarter, Ruby was more determined. Heck, Rowan could even argue she was braver. She didn't take nonsense from anyone when she got upset. She'd look a monster in the eye and demand something- or just have a normal conversation. It was hard to tell with her and that's part of what made her... well, herself. Rowan couldn't have either of them any other way.

"How about all_ three_ of you share Rowan's room? We have some sleeping bags in the basement." Nicholas suggested.

"But what about the guest room?" Amber asked.

Rowan's mom then recommended from the kitchen "It's fine without any occupants. You all family after all, not guests. Your more then welcome to stay in the same room."

Ruby seemed to be in thought for a moment before asking the question "Does that make this a_ double _sleepover?"

Rowan couldn't help but snicker a little before answering. "Yeah, I guess it does."

* * *

Rowan couldn't help but feel a little uneasy when she climbed down the stairway into the dark abyss under the house. It was like it was everyone's instinct to became a bit paranoid when their in the attic or basement. Rowan didn't know why that is. All she knew right now was her goal of bringing 2 sleeping bags up and that her cousins were two fearful to come down with her. Nicholas had offered to help her, but being as stubborn and independent as she was politely refused. She was starting to wonder if she should have accepted it.

She'd made sure to shut the door behind her. She didn't feel a need to keep it open, and she didn't want to risk being the butt of one of Ruby's jokes. She flicked the light switch near the entranceway, which activated the light bulb in the center of the ceiling (or floor of the room above?) and illuminated the freezing cold space.

There were a lot of boxes scattered around, some empty and others unopened. There were a few other things out in the open that were waiting to be used again, like the parts of a tent from whenever the family went on camping trips and dolls likely desiring to be played with like they used to.

It was in the corner with the hiking gear (which consisted of said tents, a few backpacks, cooking utensils for the road, and a few other necessities for overnight stays in the wilderness) where she found the sleeping bags.

She got out hers, which was, predictably, a bright red color, and her mom's, which was the nice orange shade she adored so dearly. She knew Ruby and Amber would enjoy those the most, since those two were, respectively, their favorite colors. It was like it was hereditary to have a love of warm colors.

She stopped dead in her tracks when she felt something stalking her- watching her every move. She _knew_ she shut the door, and there _weren't_ any windows. I mean, how could one put windows underground? That would leave only one option...

She turned swiftly around, dropping one of the bags in the process. She didn't see anything abnormal. She tried to play it off as nothing peculiar, but it stuck with her like a fly on fly paper. She just couldn't let it escape from her mind. The feeling wouldn't back off, no matter how much she tried to ignore it.

Eventually, she just went back up. As soon as her foot stepped through the door, the sense of died off like it was stabbed in the head. It just simply vanished off the face of the earth, like it was never there at all. She wished she could say the same for her suspicion.

* * *

Amber was the one that tried to make sure Ruby actually got sleep. If it wasn't for her, the three of them would have probably stayed up all night talking and catching up with each other. At least they managed to stay up until 11 pm "_catching up_"... that is, until Rowan's mother finally caught them and demanded they get some shut eye.

Rowan happened to be in a set of dark grey and black pajamas with black mickey mouse, white polka dots and a few other designs all over. It that almost felt like a blanket whenever she wore it.

Amber was wearing a pale orange, short sleeve shirt that was a bit to large for her, going down to the start of her thigh. She also had a dark orange pair of pants on, but she still adorned her necklace.

Ruby, like her sister, still had her bracelet on but now was dressed in a mouse-themed onesie, with the hood over her head. She really did look adorable in it, but Rowan didn't dare say that out loud. She'd probably get slapped, punched in the face or water dumped on her in the morning for it. Again, Ruby was unpredictable in the best way. She didn't even comment on how they were both mouse themed.

Amber ensured Ruby was tucked in tightly in her sleeping bag (with a quick kiss on the forehead to boot) before zipping herself into her own. They wished each other sweet dreams and no bites from bedbugs (which promptly made Amber shiver a little) before Rowan went under the covers on her bed. She carefully stole a glance over at her cousins, a gentle smile forming on her face as she saw the two with their eyes closed, attempting to enter their individual worlds of imagination.

It was moments like this that really made her family important to her. She'd probably give her life up if it meant those two were safe. With her happy thoughts in tow, she allowed herself to drift off.

* * *

She never expected to be woken up in the middle of the night by Ruby asking "So... what's your name?" To think, she was having such a good dream about starring in the _Jungle Book _two. She quietly exhaled in the form of a sigh, turning over to find Ruby wasn't in her sleeping bag.

She turned again, only to have her eyes widen- she promptly closed them at the realization there was a man in the window, conversing with the 9-year-old as if this were a normal occurrence. She didn't get a good look at him, but she managed to catch a few noticeable features, such as his snow white hoodie, which had covered his head and hidden his face, and the black pants and shoes. Had she looked more closely, she may have recognized it to be a pair of black jeans and a matching set of black and white slip-on's.

Rowan had to beg in her head for the pale red stains on it was just juice or ketchup and not blood.

Rowan merely scolded herself internally for not getting up and protecting her. But if she suddenly provoked him, what if he harmed the two of them- or Amber- or her parents? The man obviously wasn't here for good purposes. She knew there wasn't _ever_ a good reason some stranger sneaks into a person's home at such a late hour.

She listened to, what she guessed, was the intruder chuckle at the question. "Now why do you need to know that?- Better yet, shouldn't you introduce yourself first?"

She could overhear Ruby going "Hmmmm..." only to assume she nodded her head, since her cousin then said "I'm Ruby. There. Now for yours."

"Name's Jeff."

"Nice to meet you, Jeff."

"You two."

Rowan couldn't believe this. They were actually having a_ normal conversation_. _Seriously?_ She knew they had the 'stranger danger' talk with Ruby- she was there! She always figured it was only nature for such a kid to be so trusting, but now _really_ wasn't the time!

"Wait- **Don't!**-" she heard Ruby cry out- just as she felt something land on the bed in front of her. She opened her eyes quickly to find a red-fluid stained kitchen knife stabbed into the mattress.. dangerously close to her face. It was safe to assume he'd thrown it at her, since he'd barely moved a muscle from when she last saw him. However, she got the feeling that he it have hit her if he wanted two.

She was discovered. This guy was a murderer. _They were dead._


End file.
